There is one particular sin that we always somehow succumb to, and that is lying.
Almost every day, or practically every day, we will tell a lie. It seems that we are pretty good when it comes to being practicing liars but not so good when it comes to being practicing Catholics.
Some people have asked if telling a white lie is sin. Well, the short and straight answer to that is that a lie is a lie; the colour doesn’t matter.
That being said, we have been taught from our earliest days to be honest and to tell the truth always.
But we also know how difficult that can be, because to be honest and to tell the truth can be costly and we wonder if the price is worth it.
There is this rather funny account of telling the truth:
The teacher asked what my favourite animal was, and I said, “Fried chicken.”
She said I wasn’t funny, but she couldn’t have been right, because everyone else laughed. My parents told me to always tell the truth and so I did. I told my dad what happened, and he said my teacher was probably a member of SPCA. He said that they love animals very much. I do too, especially chicken, pork and beef. Anyway, my teacher sent me to the principal’s office. I told him what happened and he laughed too. Then he told me not to do it again.
The next day in class, my teacher asked me what my favourite live animal was. I told her it was chicken. She asked me why, so I told her it was because you could make them into fried chicken. She sent me back to the principal’s office. He laughed too, and told me not to do it again.
I don’t understand. My parents taught me to be honest, but my teacher doesn’t like it when I am. Today, my teacher asked me to tell her what famous person I admired most.
I told her, “Colonel Sanders.” Guess where I am now …
Yes, there are times when we get fried for telling the truth, and we chicken out and rather tell a lie.
But we have to realize that honesty is a very expensive gift and we can’t expect it from cheap people.
Today’s gospel brings us back to that moment when Jesus was nailed to the cross. For all the truth that He taught and stood for, that was where He ended up.
And there as He nailed and dying on the cross, the people watched Him, the leaders jeered at Him, the soldiers mocked Him, and even one of the condemned criminals abused Him.
For all the truth and the love that He stood for, it seemed like a sorry and sad end for Jesus.
It seemed that truth and love have failed; it seemed that Jesus had failed; and it seemed that lies and that the devil, the “father of lies”, had triumphed.
But in the midst of all that noise of jeering and mocking, there was a silent witness.
As the gospel described it, above Jesus there was an inscription: “This is the King of the Jews”.
Nailed together with Jesus on the cross, it was what we have come to know as “INRI” which are the initials for the Latin inscription: “Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum”
That notice was nailed above Jesus by Pontius Pilate probably to state the crime for which Jesus was condemned, and also to ridicule Him.
But that notice was the profound silent witness to the truth of Jesus – that He is indeed the King, not just of the Jews, but the King of the universe.
And that is what we celebrate this Sunday – Jesus Christ, the King of the universe, as we come to the end of the Church year.
We worship and honour Jesus as the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, the Beginning and the End, the Truth and Love.
And like the other condemned criminal, aka “the good thief”, we also want to admit that we are sinners and liars and we can only ask Jesus to remember us and save us.
On the cross, all the lies and sins were nailed and overcome by the truth. On the cross, all the wrongs were made right by the sacrifice of love. On the cross truth and love prevailed.
There is a story of a maths teacher who set the following question for her Primary One class in a test.
“If there are 5 people in your family and 10 apples to be shared, how many apples does each member of your family get?”
This was a straight forward question and the pupils should be able to get it correct. However, after the test, to the teacher’s horror, there was a typo error, instead of ‘10’, she had typed ‘1’. So the question read:
“If there are 5 people in your family and 1 apples to be shared, how many apples does each member of your family get?”
Even though there was a typo error, many pupils still attempted the question and gave different answers. Among all the answers, there was one by a little girl that stood out. She gave an answer and provided explanations.
She wrote:
Each member of my family will get 1 apple. If grandpa had bought an apple, he wouldn’t keep it for himself. He would give it to my grandma who is sick. Grandpa would want grandma to have the apple so that she can eat the apple and get better. Grandma wouldn’t keep the apple for herself too; she would give it to her favourite grandchild, which is me. But I wouldn’t eat the apple too. I would give it to mummy, who stands at the street corner every day to sell newspapers. She must be very thirsty after standing under the sun the entire day. The apple will quench her thirst. But mummy wouldn’t keep the apple for herself too. She would give it to daddy who travels to the city to work at the construction site every day. Daddy cannot afford to buy apples, mummy would want daddy to have it. So, everyone in the family will have an apple.
The teacher awarded this girl full marks for this question.
Jesus is the King of Truth and Love. He will make all things right as He did on the cross.
The inscription that was meant to be a condemnation became a confirmation of who He really is.
As for the lies and other sins that we have committed, the 2nd reading has this to tell us: You will have in you the strength, based on His own glorious power, never to give in, but to bear anything joyfully, thanking the Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit eternal light.
As we repent of our sins and acknowledge Jesus to be our King and Saviour, may we also hear Him say to us: Indeed I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.